Material-mass Balance of Smallholder Oil Palm Processing in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

This study evaluates the material-mass balance of smallholder oil palm processing in Niger Delta Nigeria. Ten smallholder oil palm processing mills were randomly sampled. Measuring scale was used to measure the weight of the Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) and all the processing intermediates/products including Threshed Fresh Fruit (TFF), Palm Pressed Fibre (PPF), Palm Kernel Shell (PKS), Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB), Crude Palm Oil (CPO), chaff and nut. During the study period (13-22 April 2012), 8 of the mills processed 90-400 bunches of Dura variety, while the remaining 2 mills processed 65-200 bunches of Tenera variety. During the batch processing of Dura variety, the proportion of the intermediate products computed in relation to the weight of the FFB (100%) are as follows; TFF (66.0-75.0%), mesocarp (44.8-51.1%), nuts (19.0-27.5%), kernel (5.7-7.2%), water in mesocarp (9.0-12.1%) and water in nut (2.4-3.4%), EFB (23.7-32.4%), chaff (0.8-2.4%), Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) (10.0-18.8%), Palm Press Fibre (PPF) (23.2-28.1%) and Crude Palm Oil (CPO) (9.4-12.8%). For the Tenera varieties, the compositions are as follows; TFF (70.9-72.9%), mesocarp (56.4-58.0%), nuts (14.5-14.9%), kernel (5.5-5.6%), water in mesocarp (10.1-10.4%) and water in the nut (1.9-2.1%), EFB (25.7-28.2%), chaff (0.9-1.4%), PKS (6.8-7.5%), (19.1-20.3%) and CPO (26.0-28.2%). This result shows that Tenera produces more oil and less wastes compared to the Dura variety. The solid wastes fractions are used as energy sources during the processing of oil palm and as filling materials for upgrading access roads to palm plantations. Except the huge volume of wastes (71.8-90.6%) generated by smallholder oil palm processors is effectively utilized, the process will be unsustainable.